Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but to look at the little boy, who was younger and standing in front of her. With his calm demeanor and casual expression, she understood that this little boy had already knew what this was.
Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but to ask: “What is it?”
The genius heaven’s proud daughter, Li Shuangyan, had never underestimated herself; however, after such a long observation, she was not able to clearly understand the mysteries of the patterns. Li Qiye already knew; this caused Li Shuangyan to feel a little helpless. Did this little boy in front of her really have a Mortal Physique, Mortal Life Wheel, and Mortal Face Palace?
Li Qiye stared at the numerous densely packed patterns. At this moment, his eyes became particularly abstruse, and gently whispered: “Zither melodies.”
At this moment, Li Shuangyan felt that the little boy in front of her had become an entirely different person; it was as if he was the victim of countless vicissitudes as if he was basked in countless moons.
“The most regrettable thing in this world is lacking an intimate friend.” [1]
In the end, the little boy in front of her spoke out such a subtle and ineffable line.
Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but inquire: “How do you know these are zither melodies? What are the mysteries inside these lines?”
The genius heaven’s proud daughter was acting as if she was an eager student.
“Ah, the mysteries inside are of an ancient story.” Li Qiye smilingly said: “As for how I know, I calculated with my fingers.”
Li Shuangyan felt helpless once again. She couldn’t see through this little boy. These zither melodies in front of her, she knew that her understanding would not be lesser than any other genius; however, this little boy, with just a glance, immediately knew what it was. This was too devilish! She couldn’t help but wonder if the little boy in front of her was still human?
Finally, Li Qiye told Protector Mo: “All of you should return, I want to be by myself to quietly contemplate.”
Nan Huairen didn’t have an opinion, and as the observer of Li Qiye for his wall facing meditation as well as his protector, Protector Mo had the responsibilities to look after him. He hesitated, and then he said: “But, you are not safe in this place.”
“If this place isn’t safe, then other places are even more dangerous.” Li Qiye bloomed a smile, and he arranged for Protector Mo: “Your mission isn’t to protect me; it is to watch over Cao Xiong carefully, understand?”
Protector Mo glanced at Li Qiye, and then finally nodded his head in agreement. Even though he was a man of few words, he was aware of the situation. At this moment, he immediately knew what to do with Li Qiye’s command.
“You also go back; here, I alone am enough.” In the end, he also told Li Shuangyan to go back. In this place, he didn’t need Li Shuangyan’s protection. The truth was, with Li Shuangyan’s presence, it wouldn’t be convenient for him to catch the big fish.
Everyone had left, and only Li Qiye remained. He didn’t do anything except meditate in the grand hall with his eyes closed.
Soon, the sun had set, and the moon had risen. The night curtain beckoned, and the entire peak was encompassed by a gloomy shadow. At this moment, the four directions were all silent. Outside of the peak, one could faintly hear the howls of the wolves.
Under the night sky, the mountains and trees, along with the vines, seemingly became ferocious. There was a transformation in this place. It was as if an evil aura was coming from the ground, as if something ominous wanted to rise from the earth.
“Whoooooshh...” At this moment, inside the Ghost Pavilion was a howling fierce wind. In but a moment, a black fog appeared inside; it was as if this place was wanting to become hell.
“Hahahahaa...” Suddenly, waves of sinister laughter came from inside the pavilion as if an evil ghost was hiding in the shadows, staring at Li Qiye.
Li Qiye, who was sitting in the meditation pose, suddenly opened his eyes. He calmly smiled, and he gracefully said: “I don’t want to personally take action. I only want to ask one thing, where is that zither?”
At this moment, Li Qiye was carrying the zither given to him by Nan Huairen, and his five fingers were hovering over the strings.
“Hahahaha....” The reply to Li Qiye’s question was even more sinister laughters. Afterward, the sounds of ghostly bones creaking filled the air.
At this time, Li Qiye focused his eyes and observed. The Ghost Pavilion was no longer here, and he was in an empty unknown wilderness. Looking as far as the eyes can see, it was an endless wasteland.
The more frightening matter was that below the ground, there were waves of skeletons crawling up. These skeletons had been here for who knows how many years; they slowly stood up, carried broken swords, and they motioned towards Li Qiye. In the midst of things, Li Qiye was surrounded by the endless sea of skeletons.
“This type of illusion, to me, is as simple as eating breakfast; it is without meaning.”
“Phoosh...” At this time, a skeleton struck at Li Qiye with his blade. Li Qiye remained motionless, this blade pierced his body, and blood immediately sputtered; however, Li Qiye was still motionless, and he was still smiling.
“Creaking, creaking...” Wave after wave, the friction of the bones caused creepy sounds that would frighten others and cause their scalps to tingle; anyone else would immediately turn and run.
At this moment, many skeletons had crawled up to Li Qiye. Some grabbed his hands and others his feet, they then lifted him up. They turned to the four directions, and they started to pull; seemingly, they wanted to dismember Li Qiye.
Being dismembered by so many skeletons, wave after wave of extreme pain came; it was followed by the spurting of blood.
“Phoosh” Next, the arms and legs were removed by the skeletons. His body became two halves, blood came flying out from his body, along with his innards. His head rolled really far away.
For anyone else, they would have defended themselves earlier as well as destroy these skeletons, but Li Qiye was still calmly smiling as his head was rolling far away.
As his skull was rolling on the ground, Li Qiye, who was still smiling, said: “I only ask one question, where is that zither located? For the sake of an old friend, I won’t make any moves. Once I take action, the consequences would be unimaginable.”
Suddenly, the scenery changed. There were no longer skeletons, and his body was without harm. Li Qiye was still sitting in the Ghost Pavilion like before.
“Boom...” Suddenly, Li Qiye’s entire body felt like a floating immortal, with wings extruding from his back. At this moment, in the sky, a heavenly gate was opened. Li Qiye, without another option, walked inside the heavenly gate.
Entering the heavenly gate, Li Qiye was immersed in the immortal sceneries. Within the immortal palace, he only saw immortal zithers flying, godly mountains floating up and down, brilliantly bright immortal palaces, heavenly weapons, godly treasures, countless materials... and godly stones that would cause countless cultivators to drool.
One would lose their senses in this paradise. Wave after wave, heavenly sounds filled the air. Two groups of heavenly fairies, slim and graceful, started to dance gracefully. The two groups surrounded Li Qiye, and they began to dance.
Each and all fairies were heavenly frightening beauties. Li Shuangyan could be considered a grand beauty, but to compare to this group of fairies, she would still lose her colors.
What was even more stirring to the will of people was that the fairies were only wearing a thin silk veil, draped over their incomparable and beautiful naked bodies; sometimes hidden and sometimes showing. The two group of fairies started to alluringly dance faster; their dances were erotic and extraordinary, and they would cause others’ blood to boil...
Under this dance, not mentioning the men, even women couldn’t help but waver in their minds!
“Wonderful Dancing Style...” Li Qiye remained unmoved just as before, and he said: “Seems to be an old friend!”
The dance became increasingly faster and increasingly tantalizing. Even immortals would be attracted by this erotic dance, but Li Qiye was just silently sitting back and admiring the scenery.
Naturally, this illusion was useless against Li Qiye. Suddenly, the scenery changed again. Li Qiye was traveling in the desert, with the sun hovering over his head...
The illusions, one by one, kept on transforming. Each illusion was meant to attack the seven emotions and six desires of humans. Any cultivator, even if they could successfully pass one illusion, wouldn’t be able to go through the second, the third, the fourth... As long as one was still human, they would naturally have seven emotions and six desires.
Unfortunately, these illusions were facing Li Qiye. Li Qiye’s willpower was unwavering; he floated throughout countless moons with endless ups and downs. What sufferings and transformations had he not experienced?
After the illusions transformed into different illusions, Li Qiye lost his patience; he finally he opened his mouth: “It seems like you want me to make a move!”
“Zheng... Zheng... Zheng...” From the five fingers of Li Qiye, the sound of the zither started to play; the entire illusion suddenly collapsed into destruction.
“Zheng... Zheng... Zheng...” Waves of zither melodies rang in the air. At this moment, the dense melody patterns inside the Ghost Pavilion started to ripple with Li Qiye’s tune.
Once the illusion disappeared, a huge monster head appeared inside the pavilion. This head was gigantic; one could only see that it had a bull’s horn, bloody eyes, the body of a snake, and the wings of an eagle; it was dragging along a thick and long bloody tongue.
Li Qiye stared at this monster and asked in a relaxed manner: “Where is your real body?”
“Roar!” The monster roared. Facing this roar, the five fingers of Li Qiye stroked down, and the sound of the zither immediately rang. The melody patterns inside the Ghost Pavilion became louder and stronger.
“Bang” An explosion occurred. Suddenly, there was a crack in the ground of the main hall; an ancient zither, along with melody patterns, suddenly rushed up.
This ancient zither was extremely old with moving brilliance. It jumped up, and it suddenly fell into the hands of Li Qiye.
“Roar!” Seeing the ancient zither falling into the hand of Li Qiye, the monster ferociously roared and rushed towards Li Qiye.
Li Qiye’s eyes concentrated, and he gravely said: “Back...”
His five fingers started to pull at the strings of the ancient zither. Zhang... The zither melody was like a sword. In a flash, the melodic patterns in the entire Ghost Pavilion flashed brightly, becoming terrible sword energies.
“Phoosh”, the sword energy struck down towards the gigantic monster. After being struck, it flew away to the far distance. The two bloody eyes of the monster stared at Li Qiye, seemingly afraid.
[1] Intimate friend is made out of two words: “Comprehend” and “Sound”. The words have two meanings – one is someone who can understand your music, the other is your best friend.